


Cyber Criminal Collective

by the_little_bay_that_could



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Hackers, Anakin is still the chosen one but also a hacker, Angst, Revenge, hacker!Anakin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-05 21:13:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12802500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_little_bay_that_could/pseuds/the_little_bay_that_could
Summary: Anakin is 19 years old and a free man. He leaves Tatooine behind him, looking for a life of purpose and prosperity in the great city-planet of Coruscant. Yet, Coruscant's streets are not paved with gold, and the planet is not the wealth of opportunity he thought it to be. Coruscant's underworld is a place infested with crime, rampant with injustice, and the wealth disparity between the city's richest and poorest is startling. Having lived his life as a slave, Anakin has seen it all before: the poverty, the exploitation, the hopelessness.The Jedi and the Republic are corrupt, serving no one but themselves. Their great Clone Wars has spread throughout the galaxy like a disease, spawning nothing but more hatred and bloodshed. And Anakin is angry. Angry at the Republic, bitter about a life in slavery. This hatred prompts Anakin to take action, entangling him in one of the galaxy's most notorious hacking groups: the Cyber Criminal Collective.The Cyber Criminal Collective presents an unprecedented threat to the Republic and the Jedi. And so, something of a cat and mouse game between the Jedi and CCC will ensue, with Anakin at the center.





	Cyber Criminal Collective

There was nothing left for him on Tatooine. His mother died, and no longer was he bound in chains, sweating and suffering at the hands of a cruel master. No, Anakin was a free man. He could go where he wanted when he wanted, and never again would he have to return to this barren, miserable sand planet. This sense of liberty exhilarated him, and every so often he would announce to the sand and suns and sky: “I am a free man!” The words were invigorating and intoxicating, slipping off his tongue with a joyful force. For the first time in 19 years, Anakin belonged to no one but himself. He felt as if the galaxy was his for the taking, and he was ready to fly through the stars. To stay on Tatooine was not an option—he had too long dreamt of leaving this dustbowl and heading to Coruscant. Anakin imagined Coruscant as a place of sheer magnificence. Stories and images of the place always entranced him. It was the very hub of this galaxy—a busy, rapidly moving place, full of freedom and opportunity. 

So Coruscant was where he would head. He knew not a soul there, but he’d make his way, like he always had. He grew up in chains, but was smart and cunning and used his hacking skills to carve his way to freedom at the age of 19. And when he arrived at the great city planet, he’d build robots and make a fortune. Oh, his mind was alight with all the possibilities! Never would he take his freedom for granted; he would treasure it and cherish it and do great things with it. He could help people. People like him who’d grown up in bondage and poverty. So full was he with naive hope and excitement that he believed once he got to Coruscant, he could do it all. 

Anakin was giddy, unable to sit or stand still. He paced around Tatooine’s dusty little airport, waiting for the starship to arrive to take him, and 50 or so other people, to Naboo. Once Anakin landed in Naboo, he’d board another starship to Coruscant. For all of Anakin’s naive optimism, he knew it’d be difficult to start a life on Coruscant. He was dirt poor, and the city planet was a costly place to live. He’d be forced to settle in the underworld, which was still more expensive than Tatooine, despite the underworld’s reputation for being grimey and crime infested. Nevertheless, Anakin was excited. Every five minutes, he eagerly glanced out the airport window, waiting to see if the starship arrived and was ready for boarding.

All Anakin carried with him was an old brown sack. In it, he neatly folded two spare changes of clothes, a holopic of him and his mother when he was just 10 years old, and of course, his computer. His mother, Shmi, always thought it strange how attached Anakin became to his technology, but Anakin’s computer, and all the robots he built, were very much part of him.Math and programming came to him as naturally as his mother tongue, and they allowed him to look at and understand the galaxy in a way most people could not. And these languages—the language of the universe, and the language of robots—gave Anakin a sense of power most slaves, and most people could never achieve. In many ways, this galaxy was built upon technology, and Anakin had the power to manipulate that.

He’d stolen the computer from his master just about five years ago. His master was a human man named Leedon Grandor. Master Grandor, a farmer and former pirate, bought Anakin from his old master, Watto, when Anakin was just 13 years old. Master Grandor was far more punitive and cruel than Watto ever was. Anakin despised the man, fantasizing even about killing him. The old master caused him unspeakable pain and even killed his mom. 

However, the master had an impressive collection of computers and robots and often allowed Anakin to fix them if they broke down. This was an oversight on the master’s part—Anakin would eventually use all that experience against him: Leedon’s wife was traveling in Ithor, so Anakin spoofed a call from a hospital in the city she was staying in. He posed as a nurse, regretfully informing Leedon that his wife was severely injured in a speeder crash, leaving her in critical condition. So Leedon rushed off to Ithor, leaving only the farm’s overseer in charge of the land and slaves. 

The overseer was a simple man. For all the power he liked to champion over the slaves he whipped and tortured, he was quite a weak and cowardly man. Anakin hacked him, threatening to release damaging information—the overseer was cheating on his wife, stealing money from Master Grandor, and robbing local shops with his little band of idiots—if he did not transfer thousands of credits worth of money to the mysterious hacker. This fiasco distracted the overseer, leaving Anakin time to escape and make money in the process. 

When Anakin arrived in Mos Eisley, he wasted no time and urgently bought a starship ticket that would take him to Naboo, and then another ticket to Coruscant. And now, just two days after his escape, he paced around Mos Eisley’s crumby little airport, anxious to see the galaxy and afraid of recapture. He was cautious and always tried to remain a step ahead, monitoring local police, bounty hunter, and slave-catching sites for any news alerts about an escaped slave named Anakin, who belonged to the old pirate named Leedon Grandor. 

The alerts popped up as soon as the overseer got his wits about him and noticed Anakin escaped. But just as soon as the news appeared, Anakin deleted it from the internet and any databases. Of course, this would only work for a short amount of time. As soon as the ol’ master returned from Ithor, he’d mercilessly hunt Anakin down, with a skill and strategy the overseer could never accomplish. 

The master was sure to discover Anakin’s scheme and was equally sure to be bitterly and brutally enraged. Over the course of a few days, Anakin wreaked havoc upon the farm, leading the master to believe his wife was going to die, and forcing the overseer to hand over thousands of credit, lest his secrets be exposed and his life ruined. Yet, the overseer was likely oblivious to the fact that this was all Anakin’s doing. After all, intelligence wasn’t one of his attributes (if he had any qualities to begin with). The very thought that the overseer was too stupid to figure out that a slave played him like a fool gave Anakin an immense feeling of joy and satisfaction. Anakin relished in the revenge. 

The master and the overseer alike deserved what they got. And they deserved so much more. The temporary fear Anakin caused them was nothing compared to a life of bondage and torture. Oh, Anakin was not done with them yet. Even from across the galaxy, he could ruin their lives just as they ruined his.

 

✤✤✤✤✤✤

 

By the time the starship took off, Tatooine’s twin suns had set. Anakin peered out the window to wish the planet a final goodbye, but the dark veil of night obscured the landscape and Anakin struggled to make out all the cities he’d been to and the regions where he once lived. 

It was a bittersweet goodbye. Growing up, he always spent so many nights staring at the stars, imagining a way off the planet. Oh, how he yearned to be among the stars. He often pictured himself racing through the galaxy on a ship of his own. These dreams entranced him and felt so painfully real. When Anakin gazed up at the stars, the bright, powerful masses seemed to stare back down at him, illuminating his blue eyes with wonder and curiosity. And in those moments, he felt connected to the universe and all its inhabitants. He felt as though he had a purpose greater than that of a slave, and now, maybe he could finally discover that purpose.

Yet, despite all the bad, painful memories associated with Tatooine and a life in slavery, the place was still his home. Though she was buried beneath layers of sand and dust, his mom was still on Tatooine. Even after she was killed, Anakin sensed a part of her lived on. She’d come to him in his dreams, and when the loneliness and pain became too much to bear, her presence almost became palpable. But maybe it was all just the fanciful dreams of a lonely slave, desperate for some semblance of comfort. Nevertheless, Anakin feared losing these dreams. What if once he left Tatooine, his mother’s presence disappeared entirely? 

With a certain bitterness, Anakin reminded himself: there is nothing left for him on Tatooine. No mother. No safety. No future. He was going to set off for the stars and never return. It was for the better. It was his only choice. 

The passenger sitting next to Anakin seemed to notice his brooding and attempted to start up a conversation. She was an old Twi’lek woman with light blue skin and a heavily wrinkled faced. She was tiny and frail, but had a sense of wisdom and dignity about her.

“This is your first time on a starship I take it?” she asked, an inquisitive look in her deep and almost sad brown eyes. 

“What?” the question took Anakin by surprise. He’d gotten lost in his thoughts, oblivious to his surroundings.

“I didn’t mean to startle you. You just look nervous.”

“Oh, uh yeah. I’ve never left Tatooine before. I’m goin’ to Coruscant and it’s just such a big change. I don’t know what to make of it,” Anakin admitted. Truth be told, he needed someone he could divulge his fears to. He was never one to keep his emotions locked up, and though the old woman was a stranger, she looked at him with kindness and understanding. 

“I spent the first 35 years of my life on Tatooine before ever leaving. Poverty kept me here, and I tell you my boy—this planet came to feel like a prison. All I ever knew was the sand and twin suns. But oh! there is a whole galaxy out there! And Coruscant is such a grand and impressive planet!”

“If you can travel and live on other planets, why come back to this place?”

“Well, because its my home.”

“But you said it yourself, it’s a prison. It’s my home too, but there ain’t nothin’ good here. I want to leave Tatooine behind for good.”

“I once thought the same as you did, and it was a good 15 standard years before I ever returned, but this dustbowl of a planet built me and I’d be wrong to forget about it.”

“This planet never brought me nothin’ but pain,” Anakin huffed, “I want to forget about it.” But even he knew that was not completely true. He wanted to bury his days in slavery, but he never wanted to say goodbye to his mother. It’s not that he was still in denial of her death, but he was convinced parts of her continued to live on in Tatooine. In some ways, forgetting about Tatooine meant forgetting about her.

“I know how you feel. Trust me, I do. But child, do not try and push away your past suffering. All that pain helps you grow stronger and wiser. If you can survive on Tatooine, you can survive on Coruscant, or where ever else your heart takes you. Just, do not forget where you came from, for it has shaped you into the young man you are today.”

Anakin fell silent for a few minutes, considering the old woman’s words. For all that he wanted to just forget, he supposed there was truth to what she said. Like it or not, this planet made him, and he was all the more strong, resourceful, and clever because of it. 

Throughout the rest of the flight, their conversation ebbed and flowed. The wise woman’s words gave Anakin a sense of comfort as he set off on new and uncertain terrain. He was still scared, still stubborn in his decision to all but abandon Tatooine, but he’d take the Twi’lek’s advice with him as he moved forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please comment and let me know what you think :) I'm open to any criticism you may have.


End file.
